Iran Trade With Iraqi Kurdistan to Expand

Iran and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) agreed to increase bilateral trade in the current year, a Kurdish official announced on Monday.

“The volume of trade between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran will increase to $4 billion this year,” a member of the Iraqi Kurdistan’s Legislative Council, Feiz Ali Khorshid, told Fars News Agency. The meeting of experts on industry and mining took place in the northern Iranian city of Amol.

Khorshid reiterated that current trade between Iran and the Iraqi region stands at an annual volume of $2 billion, adding that the northern Iranian province of Mazandaran has only 1.1 percent share ($22million) of bilateral trade.

He called on the Iranian province to devise measures to boost trade with his region.

Noting that Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan share three common international borders, he said there are a number of small markets in these border regions where traders can exchange goods.

He said more facilities should be provided for traders to increase the present volume. Drawing a comparison between the trade activities carried out by Iran and other countries, Khorshid said 1,100 foreign companies are doing trade in Iraqi Kurdistan, of which 62 are Turkish, evidence of Ankara’s strong attention to trade with Iraq’s Kurdistan region.